[June 1, 1870.

REVIEWS OF BOOKS.

Cassell's Book of Birds. Translated and adapted from the Text of the eminent German naturalist, Dr. Brehm, by THOMAS RYMER JONES, F.R.S., Professor of Natural History in King's College, London. Part VI. London: Cassell.

TH

HE sixth part of this exceedingly cheap and handsomely illustrated treatise is now before us, and it leads us to think that, should the succeeding issues equal those parts already published, the work will be one of the finest accounts of Birds generally which our language possesses. The coloured plate in this part represents Wagler's Cassicus, and is a most artistic representation. The text deals with the Passerine birds, and especially with the Weaver-birds of different climates, the Widow-birds, and the Buntings. Intercalated with the letter-press are many excellent wood-cuts; that of the Javanese Weaver-birds, which, through the courtesy of the publishers, we reproduce on page 487, being a very good example of the quality of the illustrations generally.

Other Worlds than Ours: the Plurality of Worlds studied under the Light of recent Scientific Researches. By RICHARD A. PROCTOR, B.A., F.R.A.S. London: Longmans. 1870.

L'

ESS than ten years ago Mr. Proctor appeared before the public as little more than the compiler of a very interesting treatise entitled Saturn and its System. Since then the writer of these lines has watched his carcer with great interest; for in a long experience of the lives of those who turn to scientific literature he has found that the pecuniary temptations of the craft are so strong, that we may almost say of the scientific man who commences book-making in early life, "Once a compiler, always a compiler." But the author of the important work now before us was made of better stuff; and, while his labours as a writer have been numerous enough, his spirit of original inquiry has not abated a jot. Indeed, on the contrary, Mr. Proctor, while achieving a position as the most successful teacher of astronomy in England, has been all the while engaged actively in research, and has, during the period we mention, announced a series of discoveries which, of themselves alone, render his name famous wherever astronomy is studied.

The publishers of the work just issued could not, then, have exercised a wiser discrimination than in selecting Mr. Proctor to write a popular account of modern astronomical discovery and recent astronomical methods; for they found in him not only a polished and facile writer, but one who is not less skilled in the power of conveying knowledge than in the art of adding to our stock of scientific information. We congratulate Messrs. Longmans on their choice, and on the good fruit it has brought forth, and which they have laid so well before the educated public. It is not usual to find astronomical books which even the uninitiated may read with interest and profit; and which, nevertheless, deal with the most recent facts of science, and with some of the most complex problems which puzzle the philosopher. But such a work is that of Mr. Proctor. It is a book treating learnedly, and yet simply and intelligibly, of those great questions concerning the laws of the universe, of which the outside world has lately heard so much and understood so little, and it is written in such excellent English that its literary merits are nearly equal to its scientific ones.

We cannot, in the short space at our disposal, do more than indicate briefly some of the contents of the volume, though we could wish, were it not to the injury of the publishers, to reproduce whole sections of the work in these pages, for it must be distinctly stated that there is not a chapter which has not some special importance attaching to it. The book differs from most of its class in being full of original matter, which, though familiar to the astronomer, is quite new to the general reader. This chiefly consists in the exposition of some of the

author's more remarkable hypotheses, and in the somewhat Socratic analysis (pushed sometimes, we think, a little too far) of the views of other workers at the heavens.

Notably would we refer to Mr. Proctor's chapter on the constitution of the sun. In this will be found a most attractive account of the researches which established the connection between magnetic disturbances and solar spots, and also the author's objection to the views which Mr. Lockyer and cer tain other observers have lately promulgated. Mr. Proctor's views on Star-drift and Nebulæ are now being laid before our readers in the publication of his recent lecture at the Royal Institution, so we need not dwell on them further. But this chapter on the sun is so especially significant in connection with Mr. Lockyer's ideas, that we must ask those who read the book to give it their careful attention. Mr. Proctor disputes Mr. Lockyer's explanation of the Corona and the Zodiacal lights, and accounts for these on the supposition that vast quantities of meteors are perpetually falling into the sun. Some of Mr. Proctor's objections to the theories of Mr. Lockyer appear most just, but we confess that in the present condition of facts we are unable to decide between the two astronomers. Some of Mr. Lockyer's arguments are most ingenious; and, though Mr. Proctor has fatally dissected others, we question whether some of his own views might not be similarly dealt with.

The only part of Mr. Proctor's admirable work to which we take exception is the last chapter, where he has introduced matters that are decidedly irrelevant, and which will produce a painful sensation in the minds of some. Such questions as those of miracles, and the efficacy of prayer, have nothing to do with physical astronomy; they are mere matters of faith; and we do not think that Mr. Proctor's well-intentioned defence of both prayer and miracles will satisfy even the mildest sceptic. As, for example, when the author, in commencing a syllogism which should demonstrate at least the rationality of a belief in miracles, Mr. Proctor writes, "Man differs from all other ter restrial creatures in being responsible to his Creator." To this the sceptic would reply-first prove the existence of the Creator, and then demonstrate that man does differ from other animals in this particular respect! And we must confess that, as a matter of pure reason, the sceptic would have the best of it. No; the author should have omitted these points from his otherwise most valuable essay. Still we recommend all our readers, whether astronomical or not, to get the volume and pass their own judgment upon it.

De la certitude en Médecine; Discours prononcé à la Séance annuelle de la Société de Médecine de Strasbourg, le 1er Juillet 1869. Par M. le Professeur C. Sedillot, Président. Strasbourg. Silbermann. De la Mortalité des nouveaux-nés. Par le Docteur Rézard de Wouves. Paris. Delahaye.

Description et Culture de l'Ortie de la Chine, précédées d'une Notice sur les diverses Plantes, qui portent ce nom, leurs usages et leur introduction en Europe. Par M. Ramon de la Sagra. Paris. Goin. Dictionnaire vétérinaire, à l'usage des Cultivateurs et des gens de Monde, Hygiène, Médecine, Pharmacie, Chirurgie, multiplication perfectionnement des Animaux domestiques. Par L. Félizet vété rinaire. Précédé d'un Introduction, par J. A. Barral.

June 1, 1870.]

Eléments de Chimie. Par P. P. Dehérain, Professeur au Collége Chaptal, et G. Tissandier. Ouvrage rédigé conformément aux programmes officiels de 1866, pour l'enseignement secondaire spécial. Paris. Hachette et Cie.

Etude sur les eaux de la Bourboule, revue clinique. Par le Docteur Chateau. Paris. Masson et Fils.

Guide pratique, pour reconnaître et pour déterminer le titre véritable et la valeur commerciale des Potasses, des Soudes, des Cendres, des Acides, et des Magnèses; avec Neuf Tables de détermination. Par le Docteur Fresenius et le Docteur H. Will. Traduit de l'Allemand par le Docteur G. W. Bichou; augmenté de Notes, Tables, et documents puisés dans les Annales du génie Civil. Paris. Lacroix. Leçons sur la Physiologie et l'Anatomie comparée de l'Homme et des Animaux, faites à la Faculté des Sciences de Paris. Par H. MilneEdwards. 2e partie. Paris. Masson et Fils. L'étincelle électrique, son Histoire, ses Applications. rencin. Ouvrage illustré de 103 graduires. Paris. Note sur l'enseignement et l'exercise de la Médecine en Danemark. Par A. Dureau. Paris. Dubuisson et Cie.

Par Paul LauBrunaut.

Had it been their powers of observation, memory, or imitation, why did not the structure take the form of the heap of flannel, instead of that laid out by Nature's architect? Birds may, and doubtless have, the above-named faculties; but not, I think, sufficiently developed to enable them to build a nest from the mere remembrance of the one in which they were born, any more than a child would be able to make a cradle. I have watched a child concentrate all its attention upon the cradle in which it was lying. Was it the structure or the colour of the lining which fixed its little mind? What in after years will it remember of either? Nothing. I can see no reason why a bird babyhood should be of a more enlightened nature than the corresponding period of our own lives. I have known cases in which a thrush has been brought up in a blackbird's nest, and a house-sparrow in that of a linnet. But would the smoothly-plastered nest of the thrush be replaced by the nest of the blackbird, or the shapeless mass of the house-sparrow be replaced by the neat nest of the linnet ? Sir, your obedient servant,

I am,

SIR,-I am gratified to find that the opinions expressed by me in a recent number of your journal have been echoed in other quarters.

According to a letter in the last number of Nature, it would appear that two candidates of established reputation have been passed over, whilst others, whose claims are slight, have been selected by the Council of the Royal Society, and recommended for election; and the still more important question has been raised, "What are the principles which govern the choice of Fellows in the Royal Society ?" contribution towards the solution of this problem, I wish to put forward some facts relating to the election of the chemical side of the Society in late years.

As a

One of the principles of action would seem to be not to elect an eminent chemist on his first application. Thus, Mr. Perkin was rejected on his first application. Dr. Roscoe had to apply four times. The persistent rejection of Dr. Letheby is, again, a fact requiring elucidation, inasmuch as that gentleman has become a power in the State.

The instances of unworthy selection it is hardly possible to particularize; but, looking through the list of chemical Fellows, we are greatly puzzled in the attempt to assign the minimum of attainment which shall be compatible with admission to the Fellowship. I am, &c.,

London, 23rd May, 1870.

J. ALFRED WANKLYN.

NATURAL SELECTIONS AND THE NEST-BUILDING POWER of Birds. SIR,-In No. 81 Mr. Higgins quotes a passage from Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection, by Mr. Wallace, in which the latter gentleman attributes the nest-building powers of birds to their faculties of observation, memory, and imitation; or, in his own words, "It would be very extraordinary if young birds could live for days and weeks in a nest, and know nothing of its materials and the manner of its construction."

Now, if such be the case, why do they not follow it out? I have known cases in which the birds never saw a nest, yet when the breeding season came round, they built their nest in the usual way and form.

One case I will relate :-The second day after a canary had hatched a sitting of five eggs, an accident occurred, by which the cage was knocked from the wall and broken, and, as a matter of course, its occupants were sent in all directions; two of the young birds were killed outright, the remaining three were carefully taken from the broken cage, and placed in another with the hen bird; the nest, having been destroyed by the fall, was replaced by a piece of flannel, into which the young birds were laid; the mother succeeded in rearing the whole three, two of which afterwards paired, and in time built a perfect nest from the materials given them, which, upon completion, in no way resembled the flannel in make, or the position in which it was placed.

Now, I ask, what was it that taught those birds to build their nest?

SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.

Secretaries of Societies will oblige us by regularly forwarding "Abstracts of Proceedings;" and they would do much to enhance the interest and success of their meetings if they would enable us to publish in anticipation "notices of papers to be read."

ROYAL SOCIETY.

MAY 19TH.-The following papers were read, or "taken for read," "On the relative Duration of the Component Parts of the Radial Sphygmograph Trace in Health." By A. H. Garrod, of St. John's College, Cambridge. The graphic method of representing the various phenomena occurring in the body during life, which has been so much developed by MM. Marey and Chauveau, of Paris, has placed within our reach great facilities for obtaining an accurate knowledge of the relations, in point of time, of mutually dependent physiological events, and the sphygmograph has become, among others, an instrument familiar to most interested in science.

By means of this instrument, a detailed and truthful record can be casily obtained of the modifications in the diameter of any superficial artery, and, as usually constructed, it is intended to be applied to the radial at the wrist.

The traces to be referred to were taken with one of Marey's instru ment, as made by Breguet. The recording paper ran its whole length 4 in., in seven seconds, and thus, by counting the number of pulsebeats in each trace, and multiplying the number thus obtained by 8.57143, the rate of the pulse at the time the trace was taken was easily found.

The lever-pen was of thin steel, sharply pointed, and it recorded by scratching on highly-polished paper previously smoked.

It is now generally agreed that in each pulsation of the radial sphygmograph traces the main rise is the effect of the contracting ventricle sending blood into, and thus filling, the arterial system.

This rise is followed by a continuous fall when the pulse is quick, but when slow, its continuity is interrupted by a slight undulation, convex upwards.

The major fall is followed by a secondary rise, not so considerable as the main one, but more marked than any other, and this secondary rise is evidently due to the closure of the aortic valves preventing further flow of blood heartwards.

The two points, therefore, the commencement of the primary and of the secondary rise, may be considered to mark the beginning of the systole of the heart and the closure of the aortic valve respectively, as far as they influence the artery at the wrist; and the interval between these two events may be called the first part of the arterial sphygmograph trace, while the interval between the beginning of the secondary rise and that of the succeeding primary one constitutes the second part of the same trace.

In 1865, Professor Donders' published the results of experiments to determine the relative duration of the first and second part of the cardiac revolution with different rapidities of movements of the heart, taking as his data the commencement of the first and second sounds respectively; and he came to the conclusion that, though the second part varied with the rapidity, the first part was almost constant in all

cases.

On commencing work with the sphygmograph, the author came to the same conclusion with regard to the trace at the wrist, but, on improving his methods of observation, he has arrived at a different result.

1 On the Rhythm of the Sounds of the Heart. By F. C. Donders. Translated in the Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Science, Feb. 1868, from the Nederlandisch archief voor Genees, en Natuurkunde, Utrecht, 1865.

The best means of insuring an accurate measurement of any sphyg mograph trace is to project all the points desired to be compared on to one straight line, and this is done by fixing the trace on to a piece of board, which has another pointed lever attached to it, with relations similar to those of the lever and recording apparatus in the original instrument. By this means lines can be scratched on the trace similar to those which would be produced by the instrument itself if the watchwork were not moving, and a result can be easily produced.

The reason why this means has to be employed is, because the lever in the sphygmograph moves in part of a circle, not directly up and down.

The ratio between the length of the first part of each pulse-beat in a trace and that of the whole beat was measured with a small pair of compasses, and from these the average was obtained, which thus eliminated, in a great degree, the variations produced by the respiratory movements, and also some of the clockwork imperfections.

For example, in the first of the figures exhibited by the author, the ratios in the several beats were:-1: 1·8, 1·725, 1·725, 1-775, 1-725, 1-7, 1-725, 1775, 1.8, 1.775, 1·675, 1·75, 1·75, 1.725, with an average of 1 1-7443.

:

which shows that in these individual cases ay varies, within the limits of experimental error, as the cube root of a.

If this statement of the ratio of the first part of the trace to the whole beat is a correct one, a knowledge of the rapidity of the pulse alone is sufficient to enable the length of the first part to be found by multiplying the cube root of the rapidity by the constant quantity 47. Thus, supposing the pulse beats 64 times in a minute, the cube root of 64 being 4, 4 × 47-188, and the length of the first part of the beat ought to be of a minute. In one case with a=64, ay was found to be 185.75, and in another with a=63.5, xy=d181.77, both numbers which agree closely with the requirements of the equation. With a 140, and therefore 3x=5.2,

=

=

5.2 x 47244.4;

and therefore the first part of a minute; in a pulse of that rapidity ay was found=242·9.

To save the trouble of extracting the cube root for any rapidity, these facts have been thrown into a co-ordinate form in the accompanying table, and the observations on which the formula is based are represented by dots on their proper co-ordinates, the calculated curve, with =47, being represented by a continuous line.

Since the above equation was worked out, a great many other observations have been made, several of which are recorded on the Table, and in health no cases have been found which depart from the curve inore than those indicated on it.

The observations made on the author are represented by simple black dots, those made on others are encircled by a ring; great size of a dot indicates that more than one independent observation has produced exactly similar results.

In none of the cases have measurements been made after violent exercise. Differences in the height and age of the subjects experimented on have not been found to produce any appreciable effect. The trace from infants has not been examined.

From the equation wy.k the length of the second part of the k-3x2 pulse trace may be represented in terms of a, as ; and as x. k from the nature of y it cannot be less than unity (no pulse having been seen with two contractions or more between two successive closures of the aortic valve), the limit of cardiac rapidity may be deduced to be 322 in a minute (47), but it is scarcely probable that pulses of such a rate could remain so sufficiently long to be counted. In many cases of disease implicating the circulatory system, the equation given above indicates that the duration of the first part of the heart's action is not normal; thus, in a boy suffering from

[June 1, 1870.

typhoid fever, on the second day after the pyrexia had ceased, and when the temperature was below the normal, ry was found = 225-25, where = 60, which differs from the equation

=

367 x 47 190.82, which shows that the length of the first part is considerably too short in the former. In the same case, three days later, the patient rapidly improving, with a = 56.5, xy="188,

which is much nearer the calculated normal result, 180-5, than on the former occasion, the trace keeping paco with the other physical changes.

It is probable that many other imperfections in the circulatory system can be similarly indicated, and it has been shown above with what facility a diagnosis may be arrived at.

"A Ninth Memoir on Quantics." By Professor Cayley. A paper impossible to abstract in a brief space.

"On some Elementary Principles in Animal Mechanics.-No. IV. On the Difference between a Hand and a Foot, as shown by their Flexor Tendons." By the Rev. Samuel Haughton, M.D., Dubl., D.C.L., Oxon, Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin. The fore feet of vetebrate animals are often used merely as organs of locomotion, like the hind feet; and in the higher mammals they are more or less "cephalised," or appropriated as hands to the use of the brain.

The proper use of a hand when thus specialised in its action, is to grasp objects; while the proper use of a foot is to propel the animal forward by the intervention of the ground.

In the case of the hand, the flexor muscles of the fore arm act upon the finger tendons, in a direction from the muscles towards the tendons, which latter undergo friction at the wrist and other joints of the hand, the force being applied by the muscles to the tendon above the wrist, and the resistance being applied at the extremities of the tendons below the wrist by the object grasped by the hand.

From the principle of "Least Action in Nature" we are entitled to assume the strength of each portion of a tendon to be proportional to the force it is required to transmit; and since, in a proper hand, these forces are continually diminished by friction, as we proceed from the muscle to the fingers, we should expect the strength of the tendon above the wrist to be greater than the united strengths of all the finger-tendons.

Conversely, in a proper foot, the force is applied by the ground to the extremities of the tendons of the toes, and transmitted to the flexor muscles of the leg, by means of the tendons of the inner ankle, which undergo friction in passing round that and the other joints of the foot. In this case, therefore, we should expect the united strengths of the flexor tendons of the toes to exceed the strength of the flexor tendons above the heel.

In the case of the hand, friction acts against the muscles; in the case of the foot, friction aids the muscles.

I have measured the relative strengths of the deep flexor tendons of the hand above and below the wrist in several animals, and also the relative strengths of the long flexor tendons of the foot above and below the ankle in the following manner :

I weighed certain lengths of the tendons above the wrist and ankle, and compared these weights with the weights of equal lengths of the flexor tendons of the fingers or toes, assuming that the weights of equal lengths are proportional to their cross sections, and these again proportional to the strengths of the tendons at the place of section. The difference between the weights above and below the joint represents the sum of all the frictions experienced by the tendons between the two points of section.

The following tables contain the results of my measurements:TABLE I. Friction of Long Flexor Tendons of Toes. (Cross section of toe tendons greater than cross section of muscle tendons.)

Amount of

friction

per cent.

65.4

17. Australian Dinjo

33-8

59.0

18. Japanese Bear

31.7

57.6

19. Virginian Bear..

25.9

56.8 20. Common Llama

25.9

52.4

21. Hedgehog..

25-0

49.2

22. African Ostrich

24.6

19.8

16-2

12:3

9.5

45.5

27. One-horned Rhinoceros.. 90

8-0

6.8

2:0

0.0

34.0

7. American Jaguar.. 8. New Zealand Weka 9. Silver Pheasant 10. Bengal Tiger 11. Indian Leopard 12. Six-banded Armadillo 13. Three-toed Sloth 14. Black Swan 15. Common Hare

16. European Wolf..

...

The foregoing animals all realise the typical idea of a true foot, with a variable amount of friction at the ankle-joint; this friction disap